TTC rider David Lepofsky has won a second time at Ontario’s Human
Rights Tribunal concerning the calling of stops. Two years ago the
tribunal ordered the TTC to announce all subway stations and last
week ruled the transit agency must likewise ensure all surface stops
are audibly announced. Lepofsky -- who is a lawyer as well as blind
-- has neither sought nor received financial compensation and has
spent many unpaid hours putting forth these human rights complaints.
Bravo.
After more than
a decade of TTC pledges to provide automatic announcements aboard
subway trains, the June 2005 ruling ordered the TTC to immediately
have train operators call out stations. Lepofsky then asked that the
same policy be applied to surface routes. After hearing from both
sides, the tribunal again agreed with the TTC rider, and last week
gave the agency 30 days to comply -- drivers will be required to
call every stop.
Since the first
ruling, the TTC has renewed its efforts to equip every train, bus
and streetcar with automated recordings, which commission chair Adam
Giambrone says should be in place by the end of this year.
Lepofsky states
he did not ask for the agency to spend money on special equipment,
instead pointing out that train and surface vehicles have long had
public address devices for drivers to speak directly to riders.
In the recent
case, the TTC argued it would be dangerous to announce all stops
because drivers have other duties to perform -- primarily the safe
operation of the bus. However it has long been commission policy for
drivers to call out major intersections. Despite being an ages-old
part of the transit operator’s job, the practice became erratic in
recent decades. Why? It’s one thing to have to memorize hundreds of
stops --especially when drivers switch routes -- but main streets
are not a similar challenge.
The recent
hearings also revealed the TTC had required that all surface stops
be announced during inclement weather or when passengers might have
trouble seeing outside. Even further disputing the “safety” excuse,
Justice Alvin Rosenberg pointed out that many operators already call
out every stop -- and the TTC has officially commended some for it.
So why did
management not years ago take the low-cost, low-tech route of
ensuring operators make announcements -- and thereby avoid losing
two human rights rulings? Was there a fear of somehow antagonizing
employees? It turns out drivers were not formally asked whether they
had a problem with expanding the practice of calling stops, and to
my knowledge union officials never opposed the idea.
After all these
years of delays, plus the time taken by the tribunal cases, the TTC
owes David Lepofsky an apology.